Kinky Leaping
by ficwriterjet
Summary: Probably a PWP story. Sam leaps into the middle of an unusual scene, and ends up doing something he wouldn't normally do. WARNING: M/F sexual spanking


Author's Note: This little Quantum Leap fanfic was written with my LJ friends Jason and Jenna in mind. I wanted to write something from a show Jason had seen, and I know we're both fans of Quantum Leap. And I had to add spanking for both Jenna and myself because the only good story, is a spanky story. This would take place early in season 5. Written March 2010.

Other Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, Quantum Leap is an older TV show that ran from 1989 to 1993. It's about a man named Sam, who leaps through time into different bodies to help people fix things that went wrong in the past. He gets help from a holographic image of his friend Al who is really in 1995, which is the date Sam started leaping. No one can see or hear Al, except Sam. Historical info I used while writing this: The four part comic book story arc 'Batman: Year One' was published from March to June 1987. The movie 'Batman Returns' is from 1992. Prozac was first introduced into the U.S. market in early 1988.

Kinky Leaping

It always took a few seconds to adjust to new surroundings when Sam leaped from one body to the next. He blinked a few times, getting his bearings. He was sitting in a chair, his right arm was raised in the air, and there was a woman dressed in black lying across his lap. Looking around the room, he noted that he was in a suburban living room, and the two of them were alone. He took a look down at his own body, saw the symbol of a bat on his chest, the black gloves on his hands, and realized he was wearing a hooded mask. After closer inspection of the woman over his knee, he realized her outfit had a long tail, and big ears. "Oh boy," he muttered.

She wiggled, and yelled, "How dare you! Let me go this instant!"

"I'm so sorry," he said, and helped her to stand up.

"What?" Once they were standing face to face, her concerned eyes searched his. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Um…. I… uh… have to go to the bathroom."

"Right now?"

"Uh… yeah. Sorry." He dashed out of the living room and opened the first door he came to. It was a bedroom. Looking back at her with a sheepish smile, he said, "Wrong door." And went to the next. Relieved to see it was the bathroom, he shut the door behind him. Looking at himself in the mirror, he said, "I'm Batman."

The body reflected in the mirror was taller and more muscular then Sam himself. This man was at least six foot two, and his biceps bulged under the outfit when he flexed them. Al popped in next to him as he was examining himself.

"Al, thank goodness. Where am I?"

Al looked Sam up and down. "You're Batman?"

He shrugged and said, "You tell me."

Focusing on his handlink, Al said, "It's August 1987. You're Jacob Cooper, and you're married to Darlene Cooper. Ziggy's still working on why you're here. Your turn."

There was a knock on the door, 'Jake? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Be just a minute." He leaned towards Al and whispered, "When I leaped in, Catwoman was…"

"Catwoman?"

"Darlene's in costume too."

Al nodded, and Sam continued. "Well, when I leaped in she was… across my lap, and I had my hand in the air, like I was about to… um… well…"

"Spank her?"

Sam blushed and nodded. Al burst out laughing.

"It's not funny." Sam hissed.

Al held his hand up and kept laughing. When he was able, he said, "What did you do?"

"She told me to let her up, so I did."

Al shook his head. "Bad move."

"What do you mean bad move? She told me to let her go!"

"You're such a Boy Scout." Al muttered to himself. "I dated this woman, Loraine. Beautiful long legs. She was between my second and third wife… or was it my third and fourth? That's not the point, the point is, that she enjoyed spanking too. So thanks to her I can give you some advice here."

Not sure he wanted to hear it, Sam hesitantly said, "Okay."

"That's your wife out there, and you guys have obviously spent money on these costumes, so you're expected to play the part. If Batman had decided to spank Catwoman do you think he'd let her up if she demanded it?"

"Probably not."

"Probably not?"

"Okay, definitely not. But I can't just go out there and… and hit her!"

"Why not?"

"Hitting a girl goes against everything I've ever been taught! When I think about the things my sister went through with her husband…"

"Honey?" Darlene's voice interrupted them. "Are you sick? It sounds like you're talking to yourself."

"No, no. I'm good, just one second."

Al said, "This situation has nothing in common with that abusive alcoholic. Darlene's not a victim. She's a participant. If she's anything like Loraine, she's excited about playing out this fantasy. You need to think of it like… like shopping. If your wife asked you to go shopping at the mall all day, you'd do it for her, even if you didn't want to right?"

"You can't compare shopping to spanking!" Sam whispered.

"No, you're right, shopping with women is awful. Trust me on that one. Look, I've got to go figure out why you're here. Just go out there and play the part."

"But…"

Al pushed a button, and was gone.

Sam closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then opened the bathroom door.

Darlene was on the other side of the door, still in costume, and looking worried. She put a hand on the side of his face and said, "Are you really okay? If you're sick, we can do this another night."

Thinking this was his way out of it, Sam smiled, "Yes that's it! I'm sick."

Her eyebrows went up in surprise.

Sam forced himself to lose the smile, and put a hand on his stomach. "I mean, I don't feel so great. Sorry."

"Oh." Her lower lip crept out, and she looked down at the ground. "I guess we can get changed then."

After seeing her expression he felt bad. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you next time."

Making eye contact again, she said, "No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault you don't feel good. I've just been looking forward to it since we ordered the costumes."

When he saw how unhappy she was, he found himself wanting to fix it. He was leery of Al's advice when it came to women, but seeing her disappointment made him believe that this fantasy was what she wanted. And he'd never been good at sitting by and doing nothing when a woman was unhappy. "You know what?" he said.

"What?"

"I'm feeling better."

She frowned. "Just because I'm pouting, doesn't mean you have to do this while you're sick."

Feeling confident in his decision, Sam said, "Whatever it was has passed. I'm fine now. I promise."

"Well if you're sure," she said with a grin. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the living room. She pushed him into the chair, and flopped herself down over his lap. He was a little startled, but automatically put his hands on her waist to steady her.

Sam looked down at her ass. He wasn't sure what her cat suit was made out of, but it clung to her skin, and left very little to the imagination. Her body was curvy in all the right places. He wasn't sure if he should say something, or just start swatting. After deciding, he pushed her tail to the side, raised his hand, and gave her a few tentative smacks.

He looked down at her head to see her reaction. After a pause, she looked back at him with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Um…" He wasn't sure what he'd done wrong.

"You just caught me robbing the jewelry store." She gestured to a small black velvet bag that was lying on the floor beside them with some costume jewelry spilling out the top. "You're supposed to be pissed."

"Oh. Right," he said, and gave her a harder swat.

She made a little hissing noise, and looked back down at the floor. He swatted her again, just as hard, and was amazed that she didn't seem to have any reaction at all. He paused, and said, "Was that okay?"

This time when she turned her head, he could tell she was irritated. "Was that okay? How's that in character? You're acting really weird tonight."

Wishing he'd stuck with pretending to be sick, he muttered, "Sorry," and started swatting again, harder and faster then before.

After a few seconds, Darlene said in a condescending tone, "You should have let me know you were into these games, Batman. I could have told you that I only play this when the roles are reversed."

Sam remembered Batman's demeanor from the movies he'd seen, and assumed this was a taunt, because Batman didn't seem the type to play games. He continued spanking and said, "This isn't a game. This is about… um… teaching you not to steal."

"What! You're not trying to teach me anything! All men are alike, you just want to prove that you're bigger and stronger then me. You're trying to control me by brute force, but it won't work! This will teach me nothing!"

He'd lost track of how many swats he'd given her, but her hips were starting to shift back and forth with each swat. He heard a few gasps from her, and tried to imagine what Batman would say. He stopped spanking and said, "You're wrong. I _am_ trying to teach you something, but if you're determined not to learn anything from it, then maybe I should turn you over to the authorities instead."

She looked back at him and said, "You mean… you weren't planning to turn me in?"

"No. But only if you promise to stop stealing." 

She squirmed a little, turned her head back to the floor and said, "Okay, I promise not to steal anymore."

Now that he'd gotten over his initial hesitation, he found himself smiling while watching her wiggle and grind against his thigh. He started swatting harder then before, and heard her whimper. Getting even more into the role, he said, "How am I supposed to believe you? You just told me this wouldn't teach you anything."

"But that was before I knew you weren't going to turn me in!" Her feet were starting to kick in reaction, and she said, "Ow! Cats hate to be locked up!"

Her noises were getting louder, and he had to tighten his grip around her waist to keep her from squirming off his lap while he spanked. For the next few seconds, conversation stopped, and the only sounds in the room were loud slaps mixed with hisses, yelps, and whimpers.

"Please, Batman!" Darlene yelled after a particularly hard swat. "Have some mercy! I promise not to steal again."

He stopped and considered that, while holding her in place. His gut reaction was to stop, but then he hadn't wanted to do this in the first place, so he wasn't sure if that was what she would want or not. "I don't think I can trust you."

She was breathing hard, and shifting her hips from side to side. "But I meeeean it."

Suddenly Al popped in. "I know why…" he looked up from his handlink and saw what Sam was in the middle of, "…you're here."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds, until Darlene craned her neck around to look at Sam and said, "Batman?"

Al gestured to the woman, and said, "Well, go on. Don't let me stop you." He put his cigar back in his mouth and stood watching.

Sam glared at him, and said, "Turn around!"

Reacting immediately to the tone, Darlene snapped her head back down to look at the floor, and practically purred, "Mmm, so bossy."

Al rolled his eyes, and turned his back to them.

Sam focused his attention back to the woman over his lap, realizing she'd thought he'd been talking to her. From her reaction, he decided bossy was the way to go. "As soon as we're done with this lesson, you will put all of that jewelry back where you found it. If I catch you stealing again, I'll have no other option but to turn you in."

"I promise you won't catch me again!"

Sam heard Al chuckle, and tried to ignore him. He started spanking her again, and said, "I won't catch you? That's not the promise I want to hear!"

She yelped and grabbed his booted ankle with one hand. "Aah! Okay! I meant I won't steal anymore! I swear! Ow! That's why you won't catch me! Ah! Because I won't be stealing! Please! I'm sorry!"

Once he heard the apology, he stopped. Before she had time to even realize it was over, he picked her up, and stood her on her feet. He stood up too, grabbed her upper arm, and leaned down into her personal space. "Put it all away. Right now."

Her eyes were open wide with surprise as she nodded. He let her go, and she scrambled to gather up the jewelry.

While she was doing that, Al turned and said; "Ziggy says ninety-seven percent chance that you're here to save Darlene."

Sam's eyes darted over to the woman. Al continued, "Tomorrow, she'll disappear. Three years later, they'll find her body. They never find her killer."

"Tomorrow?" Sam said.

Al nodded, while Darlene turned around and said, "Tomorrow?"

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Well I don't know Batman, what…"

"No," he cut her off, and took off his hood. "I'm done playing. What are we doing tomorrow."

"I don't understand what you're talking about. You mean after work?"

"Work, right. Let's not go to work! Let's call in sick. We can spend the day together."

"What?" She took off her mask. "I can't call in sick. I've only been working there for a month."

"You won't get fired for calling in one day. Do it for me."

Her worry turned to anger. "I don't know what kind of power trip you're on, but I won't call in sick just because you tell me to. The whole bossy thing can be fun when we're playing, but don't think for a second that transfers over into real life."

Frowning, Sam tried a different tact. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just… I have a really bad feeling about tomorrow. I'm worried about you."

She smiled and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "Why are you being so strange? Let's think about tonight, not tomorrow." She took his hand in hers, and moved it so he was cupping her ass. "You've got me all hot and bothered. Maybe Bruce should come home to find Selina waiting for him in bed."

Trying to use her arousal to his advantage, Sam leaned down to kiss her. When they broke apart, he said, "Please call in sick tomorrow."

"You know what?" she said with anger, "I don't even want to talk to you now! You've been deliberately trying to ruin this night for me, every step of the way, and I'm done with it. I'm going to bed." She shoved away from him, and headed towards their bedroom.

He followed her. "No wait, I…"

"Alone!" she shouted over he shoulder, before slamming the bedroom door shut in his face.

Sam turned to Al and said, "That didn't go over very well."

Al was pushing buttons, and after a pause, he said, "It didn't change. She's still going to go missing."

"She's not going to change her mind. We need to come up with a plan for tomorrow."

# # #

The next morning, Sam woke with a start, when the bathroom door was slammed. The first thing he noticed was that his back hurt from sleeping on the couch. The second thing he noticed was that Darlene ignored him completely as she walked to the kitchen. She had on a skirt, her hair was curled, and her make up was done, so Sam assumed she hadn't changed her mind about going to work. He got up, and trailed her into the kitchen.

He leaned against the doorframe in his boxers and tee shirt, and watched her making a pot of coffee. While the coffee was dripping into the pot, she got out two cups, and put milk in one. He said, "I'm sorry."

Turning to look at him, she sighed and said, "Me too." With a sheepish smile she added, "I was kind of a bitch."

He smiled and went to stand next to her by the counter. "I was kind of a jerk."

She leaned into him for a hug and said into his chest, "I tossed and turned all night missing you, but I was too stubborn to come out and forgive you."

He kissed the top of her head and said, "We'll make up for it tonight," hoping he'd be able to keep her safe.

"Sounds good." She kissed the side of his face, wiped the lipstick off his cheek with her thumb, and poured them both some coffee.

As Sam was sipping his coffee, Al popped into the kitchen with them. "Morning, Sam. Any changes to the plan?"

Sam shook his head slightly.

Setting down his coffee, Sam said, "I'm going to get in the shower."

"Okay. I'll see you tonight."

He gave her a quick kiss, and headed to the bathroom.

# # #

Al sat on the floor next to Darlene's desk, and listened to her answer the phone for the hundredth time. He drummed his fingers on his own thigh, and pushed some buttons on his handlink. It still showed that Darlene would go missing before the day was over. "How can someone like you go missing?" he asked her, knowing she couldn't hear him. "Who murders a receptionist? You're even good at your job."

Looking at the clock on the wall, Al said, "It's only been two hours? This is going to be a long day." He stood and brushed himself off. Leaning down towards Darlene he said, "Don't you go anywhere now. I'll be back as soon as I check in with Sam."

He pushed some buttons on his handlink, and disappeared. A second later, he appeared in the café directly across from Darlene's office building. Sam was sipping coffee in a booth. When he saw Al, he said, "Anything?"

"No. Her job is so normal, and so boring, I could fall asleep just thinking about it. It's been a whole lot of nothing."

"Nothing at all? Maybe she's having an affair with a co-worker?"

"She has a picture of her and Jake on her desk. She smiles at it every half an hour or so. There's no one else."

"And she still goes missing?"

Al checked again. "Yes."

Sam rubbed a hand down his face and said, "Okay. See you in an hour then."

# # #

By five thirty, Al was no closer to finding out what would happen to Darlene, and he was so sick of listening to her answer the phone, he wasn't sure it would be a bad thing if she did go missing. Everyone else in the office had already left for the day, except Darlene and her boss, Thomas Wren.

By five thirty five, Al noticed Darlene looking at the clock every few seconds, and then looking back at her boss's closed office door. Tapping her foot impatiently, she got her purse out of her desk drawer, and dug through it to find something. Unable to find what she was looking for, she started taking things out. Soon her wallet, keys, comb, lipstick, and a couple of handfuls of wadded up receipts were on her desk. Finally she pulled out a packet of gum with a smile, and stuck a piece in her mouth. She started going through the receipts, throwing some away, and putting others in her wallet.

When she was almost done, the door to Thomas' office opened. She hastily shoved everything back in her purse, and turned to see him.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked, surprise written on his face.

"Oh… Um, I wanted to ask if you needed anything else from me before I leave for the night."

He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and walked towards her, "No, I don't need anything else. It was nice of you to wait for me, but in the future, you should just leave when it's five thirty with everyone else."

When he got close, she stood, "Okay, I'll do that next time. Thank you, Mr. Wren."

He gestured to the elevator. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Not liking the way Thomas was practically shoving her out the door, Al punched his name into the handlink to see what Ziggy had on him. He watched Darlene get into the elevator, and then pushed some buttons to meet her in the parking garage in the basement of the building. He quickly scanned the area. There were only a couple of cars, and no people. While he waited for her, Ziggy sent him some information on Thomas through the handlink. "Oh. That's not good," Al muttered to himself.

He heard the elevator ding, and Darlene walked through Al on the way to her car. Checking the garage one more time to make sure she was safe, Al pushed some buttons, and jumped across the street to Sam.

Sam was impatiently pacing on the sidewalk outside the café. When he saw Al, he said, "You're late, is something wrong?" 

"She stayed a little late, but she's getting in her car now. You need to get in your car, and follow her home. Her boss, Thomas Wren, may be the reason she goes missing."

Sam headed for Jake's car, and Al followed while he spoke. "The company Darlene works for is the leading manufacturer of tricyclic antidepressants in the United States."

"Tricyclic antidepressants?" Sam asked, while digging into his pocket for his keys.

"It's the type of antidepressant most doctors prescribed before the introduction of Prozac, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor."

Sam got in the car, and said, "What's that have to do with Darlene's boss?"

"Prozac is already being used in Europe, and Thomas knows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is evaluating it for use in America. He's going to leak false documents to them tomorrow morning, which will delay the introduction into the United States for the next _two years_. Over the next year, Thomas is going to become very wealthy. By the time the authorities find out he was responsible for the false information, he'll have disappeared somewhere in Mexico."

Sam started the engine, and said, "Why didn't you tell me that last night?"

"I didn't know what her boss's name was then!"

Sam shut the door, and waited to see Darlene's car come out of the parking garage. Al went back to the parking garage, expecting to see Darlene's car near the exit. But instead the garage was eerily quiet. "Darlene?" Al asked the air around him. He could see her car, but she wasn't in it, and there were no signs of foul play anywhere.

# # #

Darlene dug through her purse as she got off the elevator, trying to find her keys. She hadn't found them by the time she was standing next to her car, and she realized she probably left them on her desk. With a tired sigh, she headed back to the elevator.

The elevator's soft ping announced the arrival to her floor. When she stepped out, she could hear the sound of her boss's angry voice carrying through his partially closed door. Not wanting to disturb him, she tiptoed towards her desk, and couldn't help but overhear him.

"I'm not going to get caught!"

Darlene froze in her tracks. She needed her keys to get home, but she didn't want him to know she'd overheard that.

"Listen old man," he said, "six months from now it'll be released in the states, and our sales will drop. A year from now, our company will be bringing in half of what it brings in now. I'm talking billions of dollars here!"

There was a pause. As quietly as possible, Darlene inched towards her desk.

"These documents will delay that for at least a year, maybe two. Even when they prove the information is false, they'll still have to do more testing before they can use it. I don't know about you, but I need a year or two of profits to get my affairs in order before I'm out of a job."

Darlene had made it to her desk, and spotted her keys hiding behind the picture of her husband. Her fingers shook as she reached out to pick them up. Once her fingers were touching the cold metal, she waited for her boss to start talking again before picking them up, thinking his voice would cover any accidental clanking.

"I'll get it ready tonight, and send it out first thing in the morning. Trust me, we're doing the right thing, not just for ourselves, but for our employees."

With the keys in her hand, she turned to head back, but her purse bumped the back of her office chair, and swung it into the side of her desk with a soft _thunk_.

Al popped into the office, and saw Darlene. "There you are," he said, "What are you doing back up here?"

Having heard the _thunk_, Thomas sprang into action. He dropped the phone, jumped out of his chair, and raced to his office door, throwing it open. Darlene stood there petrified for a few seconds, while they made eye contact.

Shaking his head, Al muttered, "No, no, no… when I left you, you were at the car. This isn't supposed to…"

Thomas lunged forward; Darlene screamed and made a dash for the door to the stairs. Wishing he were able to physically stall Thomas, but knowing he couldn't, Al popped back to Sam.

Al appeared in Sam's car and said, "It's happening now! Thomas is attacking her! Get out, and take the stairs to the fifth floor!"

Sam didn't even take the time to turn the car off before pushing the door open, and sprinting towards the parking garage.

Fueled by terror, Darlene made it to the door to the stairwell, and shoved the metal bar to open it. The millisecond she needed to get past the doorway, was all the delay Thomas needed to catch up to her.

Al popped in, just in time to see Thomas plow into Darlene's back, shoving her towards the flight of cement stairs. Darlene screamed as she lost her footing and tumbled down sideways. Her voice was cut off, as her temple smashed against a sharp corner. Al and Thomas watched her limp body slide down a couple stairs, leaving a trail of crimson liquid stark against the light gray cement.

Al and Thomas heard a door being shoved open five flights down. Al yelled, "Up here Sam! Hurry! Darlene is injured!"

Sam bluffed, "I've called the police, Thomas! They'll be here any second!"

Thomas' face was pale, and he shook his head no. His eyes darted between the railing of the stairwell, and Darlene's unconscious body, as if he couldn't decide which problem was more pressing. He rushed to the railing, and looked down at the man running up. When he caught a glimpse of the tall muscular man speeding up the stairs, Thomas turned and ran back into the office. Al yelled down, "Hurry Sam! She's losing a lot of blood!"

Sam made it to her and checked for a pulse and breathing. Once he was assured that she was alive, he took off his jacket, and held it against the gash on her temple. He looked at Al and said, "Keep an eye on Thomas." 

With a nod, Al went back through the door, and found Thomas in his office with the door locked and blockaded with his desk. Al walked through the closed door, and found Thomas quickly shredding documents with shaky hands.

Weighing his options, Sam tried to decide what to do. If she had a neck injury, moving her could do further damage. But if he left he where she was, so that he could call an ambulance, Thomas could come back to finish her off. Praying there weren't any neck injuries, Sam picked Darlene up as gently as possible, and carried her down the stairs, using his chin to keep her head wound pressed against his chest.

He had no idea where the nearest hospital was, so he walked through the parking garage, and went across the street to the café he'd been sitting in most of the day. He spotted his waitress, and said, "Call 911! She has severe head trauma, and her assailant could be getting away as we speak."

The waitress immediately picked up the phone, and Sam set Darlene down on one of the long padded benches by the front door. He checked her pulse and breathing again, while putting better pressure on her wound.

Over the next few minutes, Sam found it almost impossible to sit still and wait for help to arrive. He heard the faint sound of a siren in the distance, and thanked God that Darlene's pulse was still strong. Al popped in next to him and said, "Thomas is headed to the parking garage. He's going to get away."

Sam turned to the waitress, who looked friendly and concerned. "I need your help."

With a nod, she squatted down next to him. He took her hand, and put it over the jacket, against Darlene's wound. "Hold this here. I need to make sure the guy that did this to her doesn't get away. When the authorities get here, you tell them Thomas Wren did this to her, and he is in the parking garage in the building across the street."

He could tell she was scared, and doubted she believed him, but he didn't have time to worry about that now. The sirens were getting closer. He sprinted across the street, and made it to the parking garage, a few seconds before the elevator's soft ping.

Thomas spotted Sam coming towards him before stepping out of the elevator, and frantically pushed the button to close the elevator doors again, but they didn't close fast enough. Sam was able to get his entire arm in before the doors closed, and they immediately opened again. Thomas cowered against a corner of the elevator, holding a clear garbage bag full of shredded paper. Sam grabbed a fist full of Thomas' shirt, and hauled him out.

"I can pay you!" Thomas said. "I can pay you a lot to keep quiet about this."

Disgusted, Sam punched him in the jaw. Dropping his bag, Thomas fell to the ground, moaning, and holding his face. Sam got a hold of the garbage bag in one hand, and pulled Thomas up by his tie with the other. He pulled them towards the street entrance, and saw flashing red and blue lights.

By the time he made it to the entrance, the cops were headed towards him. Sam dropped the bag, and raised one arm, but didn't let go of Thomas' tie, until he was sure the police had surrounded them.

# # #

After making his statement to the police, Sam spent most of the night at the hospital, waiting for Jake's wife to wake up. The doctors assured him there were no serious internal injuries, and that there was no swelling of the brain. They had given her six stitches, and now it was just a waiting game.

Sam was slouched down in a chair next to the hospital bed, trying to get some sleep, when Al popped in, looking very satisfied. Sam sat up and said, "You look like you have good news."

After taking a puff of his cigar, Al said, "I do. Thomas is going to spend the next six years in prison. Prozac is going to be released to the U.S. market early next year, and Darlene is going to be just fine."

Sam smiled over at the woman lying in bed and said, "That's great Al, but if that's true, what am I still doing here?"

"Well…" Al pushed some buttons on his handlink, and then said with a sigh, "Ziggy's not sure. You should leap anytime now."

Sounding sleepy and weak, Darlene said, "What happened? Jake?"

He stood, and smoothed the hair away from her face, "Hey, it's good to see you awake."

"My head is killing me," she said, putting a hand up, and feeling bandages. Her fingers stilled, and she said, "Am I in the hospital?"

"Yes. Do you remember what happened?"

After a pause, Darlene said, "My keys. I went back to get my keys."

She looked back to him. He said, "Your boss, Thomas. He attacked you."

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion for a few seconds, before they grew wide with shock as she remembered. "I overheard him talking. He's going to leak fake documents to keep some drug from being used here in America."

"That's right, but we stopped him. He's in custody right now."

"But… how? We were the only two people left in the building."

Sam sat down on the side of the bed and smiled at her. "I have a confession to make."

"Okay."

"Remember how I had a bad feeling about today?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and it looks like you were right."

"Well, I called in sick."

"You did?"

"Yep. I spent the whole day at the café across the street from your office, and then when you were late coming out, I went up to find you."

Darlene whispered, "Thomas shoved me…"

"I was coming up the stairs when it happened. I yelled, and once he saw me, he ran off. I carried you over to the café and they called the ambulance. Once the ambulance arrived, I went back to the office building, and caught Thomas before he could leave."

"You did what?" Darlene asked with awe.

"I know it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I couldn't just let him get away. I caught him leaving the building with a bag of shredded paper. The jackass actually offered to pay me off. So I punched him and handed him over to the police."

After a short pause, Darlene chuckled. "Don't you think you're taking that Batman role a little too far?"

Sam laughed, too. "Well the costume _did_ look good on me."

"Yes it did." She put a hand on the side of his face and said, "Who needs Batman to be my hero, when I have you."

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, and leaped out of Jake's body.


End file.
